Perhaps you’ve started making sourdough and have a (growing) jar of sourdough starter ‘discard’ sitting in your fridge like me!? I’m sharing some of my favourite recipes for using up sourdough discard here including this insanely delicious and moist Lemon Sourdough Cake.
Apparently I have a soft spot for lemon cake… or anything lemon really. I didn’t think I was THAT obsessed, but my track record proves otherwise. For instance, there is this Sicilian Citrus Bundt Cake, this Lemon Almond Cake, these delicious Lemon Ricotta Blueberry Muffins, these Lemon Ricotta Pancakes… and for good measure we added a Lemon Olive Oil Cake to the cookbook. Since I haven’t heard any complaints I figured, why stop now?
I wasn’t aware of this before I started making my own sourdough starter, but there is a lot of starter that gets discarded in the process of feeding your starter. Not one for wasting food, I was eager to find a home for the discard!
I found a chocolate cake recipe using sourdough discard, and despite the fact that it looked amazing, my crew isn’t big on chocolate (except Max). So off I went to adapt the recipe to make it a lemon cake (with less sugar than the original); it’s a keeper! I was almost offended when Charles told me it was the best lemon cake I’d made so far (since it required none of the heavy lifting that the others took to create). I picked my pride up off the floor and took the compliment.
Recipes Using Sourdough Discard
If you’re looking to use up your sourdough starter discard, you need to use recipes that are designed for it. Adding the starter discard to a traditional recipe is inviting trouble (aka failure). Here are a few of my favourite discard recipes that I’ve discovered so far!
- these pretzels – YUM! (I didn’t have malt powder so used the sugar option and it turned out but I think you could use egg whites if you didn’t want them sweet).
- these crackers
- this pizza crust
- this focaccia
Gluten Free Recipes Using Sourdough Discard
If you’re looking for gluten free sourdough discard recipes (or a tutorial on how to make your own gluten free starter and sourdough bread), check out A Couple of Celiacs. Clearly you need to start with gluten free starter for this. My aunt Mary is amazing!
I posted a tutorial a couple of weeks ago on making your own sourdough starter, and will be posting a bread recipe soon. If you’re wanting to learn how to make sourdough or take your sourdough game to the next level join me in the Sourdough Schoolhouse Course – they are offering $75 off of the course for my followers for a limited time when you use the code FRAICHEBAKES at checkout. Click here to learn more about the course. Sourdough isn’t the most intuitive thing to master (so I’ve found), and the course has helped me tremendously!
Modifications to the Lemon Cake
Since first making this cake many have commented that they would like to have more lemon flavour in it. The original recipe called for 1/3 cup lemon juice and 1 packed tablespoon of lemon zest. I changed the recipe (below) to 1/2 cup lemon juice and 2 tablespoons packed lemon zest, and added the option for a lemon glaze on top of the cake. Enjoy!
Lemon Sourdough Cake
Lemon Sourdough Cake
This moist and perfectly sweet Lemon Sourdough Cake uses sourdough discard to make the cake moist with a springy light texture. This cake freezes well.
Ingredients
- 1 cup sourdough starter discard
- 1 cup milk (any milk will work, plant based etc)
- 1 cup sugar
- 3/4 cup oil (any neutral oil)
- 2 eggs (beaten)
- 2 teaspoons vanilla
- 1/2 cup lemon juice
- 2 tablespoons lemon zest (packed)
- 2 2/3 cups flour
- 2 teaspoons baking soda
- 1 teaspoon salt
Instructions
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Preheat the oven to 350F and grease a 9x13" pan.
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In a large bowl, whisk together the sourdough starter, milk, sugar, oil, eggs, vanilla, lemon juice and lemon zest to combine.
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In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, baking soda and salt to combine. Slowly add the flour mixture to the first large bowl and stir together to combine until smooth (you can use a hand mixer if desired).
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Transfer the batter to the prepared pan and spread it out until smooth. Bake for approximately 35 minutes, until a toothpick inserted in the centre comes out clean. Cool and serve or freeze any leftover cake for up to 1 month in a sealed container.
Recipe Notes
Lemon Glaze: Mix together 1 cup of icing sugar with 1 teaspoon lemon zest and enough lemon juice to thin to your desired consistency. Drizzle over the cooled cake before serving.
Could I use flax eggs to make this vegan?
Hi Danielle, I haven’t tried but it should work fine!
Danielle did this work?
I just it vegan using 3 Tbsp flax, 6 Tbsp water instead of eggs, and 1:1 soy milk substitution. I used whole wheat pastry flour instead of all purpose. I also added a 1/4 cup poppy seeds.
Baked in an 8×8″ pan, and 24 mini muffin pan so I can keep some at home and take to work.
I am very pleased with the result, although I have not added the glaze yet, and I think it does need the glaze to give it that extra oomf. Could probably serve with yogurt and/or maple syrup instead of glaze. Anyway, this is a lovely recipe!
Thank you Vanessa!
Very delicious! I had a ton of limes and turned out great I am looking forward to using lemons! Thanks for another great recipe, especially using the sourdough discard!
Thanks Helen, enjoy!!
Tori
Just made this and yes it was soft and springy but took much longer to bake and tasted very bland. I added extra lemon and can’t taste any of it. I’m angry I wasted my sourdough discard on this rubbish recipe!
Hi Jane, I’m really sorry to hear that you didn’t enjoy it. Take care, Tori
My goodness! That seems like an over-reaction…
Lol…you’re upset you wasted discard? Something by its very name that’s meant to be thrown out? You’ll have more. I promise. Just keep feeding your starter.
Just made this lemon cake. Turned out wonderful. My wife and I both love it. Haven’t made a cake in a long time so I followed the recipe precisely and it turned out perfect.
Thanks Tori
There’s no way a cake with fresh lemon juice is going to be “bland”. You’re obviously a “troll” who never made this cake. I followed the recipe exactly and it was near perfect. I frosted it with a simple vanilla frosting.
I make this recipe all the time. I love a lemon cake. I tend to make 2 loafs with this recipe instead of just one cake, that way I can freeze one for later, if it makes it there that is. Great for using up my discard too.
Hi Gemma that is so smart! Thanks for the rating and feedback – have a great day! Tori
Delicious and super easy. Only thing is for my oven probably should have added like 10 minutes. Centre was under done.
Thankyou.
Thanks Yolanta – good to know! Glad you liked it. Tori
Looks delicious! Is there a way to make this vegan?
Hi Clare, I haven’t tried but you can likely replace the eggs with flax eggs!
Can I use my starter from the fridge or should it be active?
Hi Krista, it was designed to use up the discard so it doesn’t need to be active!
What other pan sizes can I use if I don’t have a 9×13 one? Any suggested alternatives? 🙂
Hi Lexy, you could try it in two 9×9″ pans and just bake for a bit less time!
So moist and delicious! I would probably add a bit more sugar next time. Will definitely make again. Thank you for sharing.
Wow, are these ever good! I was looking for another way to use up sourdough discard and I love that this can use the inactive stuff that’s been in the fridge. We added poppy seeds because we had some kicking around and I think next time I’ll turn these into lemon poppy seed muffins.
This cake was amazing! I am going to use it for my son’s first birthday. Any tips on using different size cake pans?
Hi Caitlin, so happy you enjoyed it! If using a different sized cake pan I would just make sure you adjust your bake time accordingly, a smaller pan should have a shorter bake time!
I halved the recipe and I used a round 8″ pan and it came out perfectly at 350°exactly 35 minutes. It was still raw at 30 minutes. Used Meyers lemons for the cake(it was all I had) and made a lime glaze to tang it up. Oh my goodness… So, so yummy and tender. Love
That’s awesome Melanie! So happy you liked it!
super yummy! A great way to use up discard!
Made this a couple weeks ago and was thinking of making it again tomorrow. It did take quite a bit longer to get it to bake through in the middle. Also, it rose a lot in the middle part and sort of cracked along the top. Is that normal? I imagined it kind of just baking flat-ish/with just a slight rise towards the middle. Did I do something wrong. Otherwise it was great…loved that it wasn’t overly sweet! Love a good discard recipe – thanks!
Oops forgot the hit my ⭐️ ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Mine did the same thing!
Looking forward to trying this recipe!
Does discard go bad?
How long can it stay in the fridge?
Do you just keep adding to the same container?
Please do a blog post just on discard info.
Please show us your discard container in the fridge in your IG stories 🙂
This cake is a winner! Not too sweet with a nice natural lemon flavour. I topped mine with a simple lemon drizzle (lemon juice with icing sugar) then sprinkled chopped pistachios on top. Next time I might try coconut instead of pistachios for a different flavour combination. So glad to find this recipe – Thank You!
So happy you enjoyed it Wendy! I bet it was delicious with pistachios!
Lovely recipe! I halved the measurements, because I didn’t have enough sourdough, but added extra lemon juice and zest. Also dusted with icing sugar at the end. Thank you it was delicious, perfect with a cup of tea!
So happy you enjoyed it Sarah, thank you so much for taking the time to leave a review!
Hi Tara
Used my active sourdough and smaller tin !
Has come out very dense and soggy. Any ideas what I did wrong?
Oh and cooked it a lot longer than stated!
Hi Barbara! What size of pan did you use? I suspect that may have been the issue? Thanks! Tori
Yummy and kid approved! It was nice to have something new for my sourdough starter discard. In the future, I might use more lemon juice and/or zest because I like my cake really lemony!
Question: it was a bit on the dry side. Do you have any recommendations to make it more moist?
Hi Julie! I would just suggest baking it a little less to make it more moist! I’m glad that your family loved it!
sorry this didnt work for me at all. it took a much longer time to bake and came out very doughy. Perhaps i need to bake it thinner like a slice and less like a cake? the batter was also really heavy…
I’m so sorry to hear that. I wonder if the cake really varies depending on the starter as I’ve made it many times and it worked well but some people have had issues.
how about using active starter, would you be able to advise
I don’t think it would work the same way unfortunately! I wouldn’t use that.
I just made this for my family and added blueberries. It was a big hit! Not too sweet, perfectly squishy. Next time, I plan to add more berries and maybe a bit more lemon juice and zest. Cooked for exactly 35 mins in a 9”x 13” pan.
So happy you enjoyed it!
I baked a half batch of this recipe last night and actually forgot to add the egg. It still turned out EXCELLENT! Very flavorful, moist and fluffy with a nice rise. I cut my cake in half and frosted it with some lemon cream cheese frosting. I can imagine this would be really nice with poppy seeds as well. This is a fantastic way to use sourdough discard that I haven’t seen yet. Will definitely be making this again! Thank you 🙂
Thank you Jessica, I’m so happy you liked it! Have a great weekend! Tori
PHENOM!!!!
Everyone was mad for this, just raving. I topped off with some super strained yogurt and a drizzle of mountain honey. My husband’s eyes popped out of his head. My kid SAVORED this. He loved it.
I’m on a very restricted diet at the moment to deal with health issues so everything but the eggs and milk is off limits, but I won’t lie and say I did have a bite (didn’t swallow, doesn’t count!) and it was very, VERY hard to resist another.
THIS IS A GLORIOUS RECIPE. ALL THE NAYSAYERS NEED TO GET THEIR TASTEBUDS EVALUATED.
P.S. For a neutral oil, I used coconut oil. Undetectable.
So happy you all loved it!
Used lime juice, added poppyseeds and blueberries. Had to bake 10-15 minutes longer in glass pan! Family loved it! Thanks for the recipe!
So here is a happy accident/science experiment: I don’t go for lemon desserts, but I wanted cake and had discard so I tried this recipe with a dash of almond extract instead of the lemon juice or zest. I accidentally used baking POWDER instead of soda and almost tossed my batter — but I thought that maaaaybe the absence of acidic lemon merited a soda/powder swap anyway! I baked it off just to see what would happen, and it turned out to be a deeeeelicious almond pound cake. Who knows what would have happened if I used soda? An experiment for another day, I guess. Thanks!
Hi Sarah! Don’t you love it when something like this happens!? Love that! I’m happy you enjoyed it! Take care, Tori
Sarah, I would love to try your happy accidental almond cake- how much almond extract did you use? And did you also use vanilla?
The cake has a wonderful springy texture , a little extra lemon is nice .
Great recipe , thanks .
So happy you liked it John!! Thanks so much for taking the time to rate it and comment. Take care, Tori
I liked the recipe and the cake came out great! I halved the recipe to make a 2 layer 6in cake. Since I used smaller pans, I baked for sightly less time, and pulled them when a toothpick came out clean (about 25-28 minutes).
The cakes were moist and had good flavor. Not overly sweet. I used very fresh discard (2 days old), and there is a sourdough taste but not bad at all. Older discard may give a stronger flavor.
It wasn’t as lemony as I had hoped, but for a cake that’s no problem! I just made a lemon buttercream and that worked just fine to give it the extra sweetness and lemon flavor that I was looking for.
I’ll definitely make this again!
This was good. I will make it again. I added blueberries to the batter and a lemon glaze after baking. I wanted a really strong lemon flavor and that did it. We also liked the contrast between the less sweet rich cake and the sharp sweet glaze. Loved by all!
Hi we tried this in a deepish tin and it turned out beautifully. It needed an extra 15 minutes in our oven. You could tell it was a leaven cake, the texture is less of a crumb. It is a subtle Lemmon taste, I added Lemmon iceing. I would recommend this recipe.
This cake was amazing! I followed the recipe with the addition of a few drops of my doTERRA Lemon essential oil. EVERYONE loved this cake just by itself. I froze a few squares of cake to keep my hubby from eating it all in one day, lol. The cake was just a good after thawing it. Thanks for a great recipe!
So happy you enjoyed it Linda! Thank you so much for taking the time to leave a review!
Hi!!
So glad to found this recipe!
I am also trying to get new ways to use my sourdough discard and just can’t wait to explore more here in your pages!
Can I just ask you the size of the cup (in ml) you have used in your recipe? I am always failing when I try to use those conversion tables found over the internet.
(Here in Brazil, where I am from, is very common to see people using one Brazilian standard 180ml cup as reference in the recipes… funny)
Hi Erika!! So happy you like it! I use the 250mL cup size – that’s interesting that different sizes are used elsewhere in the world! Happy baking:). Tori
Lovely recipe thanks! The texture is devinely springy. I made the mistake of halving the sugar as I always do in baking as I use rapadura which tends to add a richer flavour, so initially it lacked a little sweetness, but thankfully I tried it about 10 seconds out of the oven, so I made a lemon drizzle with another tablespoon of normal sugar while it was still hot and it was delicious. Yes I’ve had two pieces one minute in. I can imagine it would be delicious in muffins with a lemon curd through the middle.
Marvellous cake and great to be using discard up instead of tipping it out. I have a cake in the oven as I type. I make a sticky drizzle while cake is in the oven……..wild flower honey, thin slices of lemon, lemon juice and fresh bays leaves straight off the tree…..simmer gently and pour over hot cake.
That sounds amazing Nell!!!
Hi, sorry I am a beginner in baking but would like to try this recipe. Can I use self raising flour for this recipe and how much flour (in grams) do I need? Is 2 2/3 cups meaning 341g of flour? Tq
Hi Shin! Self rising flour usually has baking powder as the leavener so I’m not totally sure if it would work to substitute it but you could try! Yes that would be the right measure for the flour in theory!
Really great cake, but I did make some changes based on the reviews to increase the lemon flavor and moisture. I Increased the sugar to 1 1/3 cups. Lemon juice was fresh squeezed, and i used half a cup. Increased eggs to 3. Used half a cup of unsweetened applesauce and a quarter cup of oil instead of all oil. Bake time for me was about 42 minutes. My cake has a pronounced lemon flavor and quite moist but not soggy. This is a dense cake, almost like pound cake. Not like a mix. It rose evenly in my pan.
For those who are worried about bake times, check on the progress while it is cooking. Everyone’s oven cooks differently!
Thank you Tori for sharing this recipe.
This recipe was amazing. Especially with the lemon glaze.
Shared it with the extended family and everyone loved it! I was nervous as the young boys are the harshest critics (but also the best, so that shows how good this recipe is!)
Just wondered if you had the chocolate sourdough recipe you mention you adapted this from? Or if not how could I do it with chocolate instead? (My 2.5 year old only ever wants to make chocolate-based things at present!)
Thanks a lot
X
Hi Rose I believe the chocolate one was on the King Arthur Flour website! So happy you loved this! And I really appreciate you taking the time to rate the recipe, thank you!
xo Tori
Mom made it yesterdayand it was a total HIT!!! SOOOO GOOD. Thanks for this recipe♥️😍 will definitely make more hehe
This cake has a great texture. So moist! After reading reviews, I added ~10% more sugar. It was still a little less sweet and lemony than I had hoped, but I kinda skimped on the zest. Then, I made some lemon glaze and drizzled that on top (1/2 c confectioner’s sugar with 1 T lemon juice). That upped the sweetness and pucker power perfectly for my taste. Will definitely make this again. Thank you!
Thank you for the feedback Cindy!!
Nice lemon flavor, but maybe have to retry the recipe. I’ll use a slightly smaller pan next time and mine cooked much faster – I tested it at 30 minutes and the the toothpick came out bone dry! I saved it with a vanilla glaze and the moisture was retained. I also let it proof a bit in the pan prior to baking.
Thanks for the recipe! I also made a lemon syrup with some zest to soak the cake top to add some more sweet and lemon. I found the cake a bit plain, but that’s good I think — less sugar 😉 Very moist and sponge-like.
Thank you! Based on all of the feedback I think that I’m going to add more lemon to it and the option to add a glaze or syrup! Glad you liked it!
Made this vegan using oat milk and flax eggs, and it turned out great! I also used whole wheat flour for a small fraction of the flour (2/3 cup), and I halved the sugar but used a glaze that added more lemon flavor (as noted by another commenter, powdered sugar and lemon juice). I was lazy and didn’t pack the zest so I’d definitely do that next time for more lemon flavor. Thanks!
Amazing!! I’m so glad to hear Jeanne.Thanks for letting me know how it turned out!
Could you translate to metric measurements please?
Thanks.
Hey Georgia! Here you go:
1 cup (250mL) sourdough starter discard
1 cup milk (250mL) (any milk will work, plant based etc)
1 cup (250mL) sugar
3/4 cup (177mL) oil (any neutral oil)
2 eggs (beaten)
2 teaspoons (10mL) vanilla
1/3 cup (79mL) lemon juice
1 tablespoon (15mL) lemon zest (packed)
2 2/3 cups (630 mL) flour
2 teaspoons (10mL) baking soda
1 teaspoon (5 mL) salt
Thank you! So thankful scrolled down the comments before converting every single ingredient into metric
I’m in the United States and although we haven’t converted to metric completely it is so convenient for baking. But all the recipes I’ve tried are in grams not mL and I don’t think they are equivalent? 250 mL of sugar is not 250 grams right? Thank you.
Hi Deborah! Try out a website like https://www.thecalculatorsite.com/cooking/cooking-calculator.php or similar to convert as needed! It might be a big help,
You are correct, 1 cup is approximately 200 grams! Happy baking xx
That is a great website, thank you so much!
Thank you, I love this recipe. Like a few others I’ll be adding more lemon next time, and probably adding some kind of lemon glaze this time. The texture is wonderful. It’s the best thing I’ve made with discard by far!
Thanks Caroline! I will add more to the recipe too and love the idea of the glaze. Glad you loved it!
One of THE worst things I have ever baked (and I am an experienced baker). Took one bite – bitter and soggy. Perhaps it is because I added a handful of chopped craisins and pistachios for some colour and texture. I’ll stick to making crackers with my discard as they always turn out perfect.
So sorry to hear this Fritz!
YES! This cake is delicious! I substituted flax egg for the regular eggs and also subbed in unsweetened applesauce for the oil. Did not disappoint! So glad I found this recipe!!! We topped it with sifted powdered sugar instead of a glaze, and it is sooooooo good!
Thanks so much Karen! That is so wonderful to hear you loved it!
Made this cake for the first time yesterday. I thought my discard was a touch too wet but it made a beautiful moist cake. I added a cup of frozen raspberry and also added a lemon glaze on top. Next time I will cut the oil and replace it with apple sauce. It was divine. Thank you!
Hi Chantal! Thanks for rating this cake, it means a lot. The added raspberry and lemon glaze sounds delicious! Tori
I was looking for a quick cake to make for Valentine’s Day, and this fit what I had on hand! I actually halved the recipe and used a 9×9 brownie pan…it mixed up fast and was easy! Perfect amount for the 3 of us! I love the glaze usually, but decided to go a bit more decadent with a lemon cream cheese frosting! PERFECT! Will make this again!
Oh YUM! Nice work Christine! And thanks for taking the time to rate the recipe!
This cake was delicious and the recipe came out perfectly as written. I was expecting a dense cake but it was quite light and fluffy. I liked the amount of sweetness but I think it could use more sugar. Even a couple of tablespoons sprinkled on top before baking would be a nice addition.
My changes: melted butter instead of oil, buttermilk instead of milk, 2 cups sugar instead of 1 cup, 2.5 t soda instead of 2, 3 eggs instead of 1 egg. The crumb is nice, but the lemon flavor is very light. I put the glaze on top of the cake when it was hot out of the oven so it could soak in the cake. I’d add 1/4 – 1/2 more of lemon juice next time.
I made the cake and it was fantastic! I did increase the lemon juice to just under 2/3 of a cup, as I really love lemons. And baked the cake in two cake pans, a 6 inch round and a 9.5 inch round, baked for 30 minutes and the cake was perfect.
Thank you Tori for this recipe, my sourdough discard has found a new destination.
That’s wonderful Nazzi! Thank you so much for taking the time to rate the recipe and I’m so happy you loved it!
Tori
Tori,
I want to thank you again for this recipe and for responding to my review. This cake has become a go-to cake in my house as it is easy to make, all
Ingredients are always available (at least in my home) and the result is so so delicious.
Sincerely,
Nazzi
Hey Nazzi! Thank you so much! I am thrilled to hear this is a favourite of yours. xx Tori
Turned out great, I did not have a full cup of starter so I used half greek yogurt and used a bundt pan. Looks great and from testing it looks fully cooked. I did 350 gas convection.
Thanks so much Lisa! Happy it worked out and I am glad you enjoyed! xx Tori
This is a lovely recipe, sort of what I might call a “snacking cake,” as it’s not very sweet and sturdy enough to eat out of hand. Actually, I think I’d prefer it in the form of a muffin, since that’s what the texture and taste seemed most like to me. Now that I’m thinking about it, it could be fabulous to fold in some blueberries or raspberries for a flavor boost to those muffins! Next time… Anyway, this attempt was successful, although I think using Meyer lemons resulted in a milder lemon flavor than I would have preferred even though I did add 1/4 tsp. of lemon extract to compensate. Possibly I will more firmly pack the zest in the future to maximize that ingredient. In any case, thank you for posting this recipe– what a wonderful way to use up sourdough discard and no mixer (easy clean-up) required. Love it!
So happy you liked it Anastasia!!
What a winner! I had some limes I needed to use, and discard looking for a home. This was the prefect solution. I didn’t have quite enough discard, so I fed it a little bit an hour or so before I started—it was nice and bubbly when I used it, which probably contributed to the not too dense cake. I used almond milk and added some raspberries and poppy seeds. What a perfectly moist, not too sweet cake, wonderfully limey flavorful, not too much. The consistency was coffee cake like, which was just what I wanted. I baked it 35 minutes in 9×13 pan, as the recipe says, and it was perfect. Thanks for this terrific recipe!
Hey Lisa! Wow! Thank you so much for taking the time to review. I am thrilled you loved it!!! xx Tori
I baked this beauty last night. I wanted a “loaf” look so used my 10″ x 5″ loaf tin. It needed 51 minutes of baking and I needed to cover the top with foil after the initial 35 minutes. It is divine. Yes my top cracked (next time I will cover with foil earlier and lower the temp but I got distracted) but the texture and flavour inside was absolutely perfect. I made the basic lemon drizzle and put it over the top. An absolute winner for us – thanks so much.
Hi Jo, so happy you loved it! Take care and thanks for taking the time to rate the recipe I appreciate it! Tori
Hi, thanks for sharing this. I want to make sure – the flour here should be cake flour? Or can I use all purpose flour?
Also, would it be possible to use Almond Flour instead of regular cake/AP flour? Thanks a lot
Hi Anita, Sorry for the delay. I used all-purpose flour but cake flour would also work. I haven’t tried it with almond flour which is quite dense so if you are going to try my suggestion would be to only sub half of the flour for almond flour. Would love to hear if you try! Tori
I am an excellent cook but a terrible baker. Though, I have somewhat perfected sourdough bread (thanks to working from home in 2020). I also try real hard not to have too much starter discard, but once in awhile I do. So, I just googled and this came up! Lemon cake? hmmmm. Sounds yummy. Looks like my husband would approve. I went and bought real lemons (not mentioned other than the zest, but I think a requirement). As I put in the sugar I yelled to my husband, “hmm one cup? Will this be enough for you?”. He dislikes my desserts normally because not enough sugar. I say to self, the hell with it – I added another 1/3 cup. If this was just for ME?? I would not need extra. But IF you have a sweet tooth hound the extra 1/3 cup AND icing is a must.
Not sure what other’s issue were on needing more cooking time other than oven’s vary, but 35 min was spot on. DO make sure this is 9×13 not 8×12 pan! Guessing that was the issue on comments of doughy.
I write too much, but in the end…drum roll (and I am 56 married 33 years): BEST CAKE I ever made. This per husband and 30 year old son! Who said, “What prompted you to make a cake?? And THIS?? out of the world!!”
They have not quit talking about it. I guess my go to dessert for now on…
(in fact my son said, “Of all those chocolate cakes you made for my birthday growing up, THIS is what I wanted!”)
Fresh lemons though!!! (Oh and poke hokes in cake for drizzled icing to seep down – I went all out for desired affect).
That is so wonderful Alys thank you for the lovely feedback! Best review ever! Tori
Hi Tori,
Can’t wait to try this. Can you bake this in a bundt pan?
Thanks!
Hi Lynn! I haven’t tried but would love to hear if you do! Tori
Lynn,
You certainly can bake this in a Bundt cake pan, I baked 35 minutes and it turned out amazing!
Thanks so much that is great to know!
Delicious and moist! I added poppy seeds and it turned out so good. The glaze is essential because the cake isn’t overly sweet. I just love how sourdough discard makes cakes so moist and almost simulates a buttermilk tang. My favorite sourdough chocolate cake recipe has been beaten by this!
So happy you loved it Abby!!! Thank you!
This is SO GOOD! Was in the mood for baking and had a bunch of discard so I was searching for what to do. A lot of recipes are boring, same old. Or require overnight proofing— or the addition of yeast. This recipe hit the mark. I didn’t even follow it exactly (I couldn’t since I didn’t have everything required) and it’s still fab. I only had 1 lemon. So I zested the heck out of it and squeezed all the juice I could and it was about half the amount needed. I filled in the rest with coconut water. Also I was out of oil so I replaced with butter (yum) and I only had a teeny bit of milk so I used half the amount in a full fat (lemon curd flavored) yogurt and half almond milk. Even with all these changes (sorry to be that person) and the scant amount of lemon— it’s still super tangy and super lemon flavored. Also very moist with a perfect crumb! I baked it for the exact amount of time recommended and the top and edges are perfectly crunchy while the inside is soft and moist. Thank you for this great recipe— even though I sort of used it as more of a jumping off point. I’m sure it’s fantastic as written too!
Hey Holly! I am so glad this worked out so well for you and I love how you made it work with what ingredients you had! I appreciate the recipe rating too! xx Tori
This cake is perfect. Big cake that you can change, I put lime juice and orange zest because that is what I had, and it was very good. Just a little advise I decided to put some chocolate chips but this was not a good idea because the batter is too light so the chips went in the bottom! Good anyway but not nice.
Thank you I will try some other recipe soon.
Pascale from Lac St-Jean, Québec
Forgot the star! Oops! Sorry.
Pascale
Thanks so much Pascale! I appreciate it!
Absolutely delicious! Easily a new favorite recipe for sourdough discard! Thank you!
I made this recipe a couple weeks ago and my husband and I absolutely loved it! It is quite easy to make and a wonderful way to use up some sourdough discard. Thank you so much forswearing this recipe.
One question: Do you think that fresh blueberries could be added to this cake if they are first coated in a bit of flour to keep them from sinking? May give it a try.
Hey Susan! Although I haven’t tried, I think this would be fine!! xx Tori
I’m making this for the second time in two weeks – delicious! This is what I would call a great snacking cake, not too sweet, can be cut into small bites, a refreshing little snack/dessert when you don’t want to overdo it. I was a little worried about the comments saying it wasn’t cooked in the middle, so even though I did test with a toothpick, I did bake for an additional 5 minutes. I can’t believe how light and fluffy this cake is! I agree with the others that the lemon taste is very subtle in the cake itself. However, with the icing, you really get the zing of lemon in every bite.
So happy you like it Marisa! I’m obsessed too! Tori
I am always multiplying the amount of sugar called for in a recipe by 2/3 because most are just too sweet. After reading the reviews, I used the amount called for and it is perfect for me. The cake is very spongy and delicious I thought.
Hi Deb I am so happy to hear this! Thanks for taking the time to leave a review, I appreciate it! Take care, Tori
I just made this cake and it was absolutely DIVINE! I made it in two 9×5 loaf pans as there are only two of us. I froze one (unglazed) to enjoy another day. The lemon flavor is remarkable. Thanks for sharing.
Hi Dee! What a lovely note! Thanks so much for sharing. I’m so happy you loved this cake. xx Tori
Amazing! So moist
Hey Adrienne! Love to hear that! Thanks for taking the time to review the recipe. xo Tori
I was skeptical at first for this easiness but my goodness, it taste so good! My family said I should save this recipe. Thank you for sharing!
Hey Elvita! I am so happy to hear you enjoyed. xo Tori
I made this lemon cake last year everyone in my family loved it I remember it went so fast, they always remind me to make it again cause it was so delicious now that i have sour dough discard i cant wait to make it, thanks Tori for this Yummy recipe.
Hi Dianne! Thank you so much for the lovely review! Happy baking. xx Tori